September quarter 2008 to December quarter 2008 movements (in original terms) -

Taxation revenue increased by 16.5% to $89,113m.

The GFS net operating balance for the general government sectordecreased to $-3,460m.

The GFS net lending(+)/borrowing(-) position for the general government sector decreased to a net borrowing position of $-7,266m.

GFS KEY FIGURES: ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT, ORIGINAL

Sep Qtr 2008

Dec Qtr 2008

Sep Qtr 2008 toDec Qtr 2008

$m

$m

% change

Current Prices

Taxation revenue

General government

76 494

89 113

16.5

Total revenue

General government

96 548

107 731

11.6

Public Non-Financial corporations

14 952

15 217

1.8

Total expenses

General government

98 990

111 191

12.3

Public Non-Financial corporations

13 152

14 360

9.2

GFS Net operating balance

General government

-2 442

-3 460

..

Public Non-Financial corporations

1 800

858

..

GFS Net lending(+)/borrowing(-)

General government

-5 108

-7 266

..

Public Non-Financial corporations

-1 916

-3 772

..

QUARTERLY NATIONAL ACCOUNTS PUBLIC SECTOR MEASURES - KEY FIGURES

The table below includes the key public sector aggregates for the December quarter 2008 from the national accounts publication. The key figures shown include Government Final Consumption Expenditure and Gross Fixed Capital Formation for general government and public corporations, seasonally adjusted for current prices and in chain volume terms.

In the December quarter 2008:

In seasonally adjusted chain volume terms, total general government final consumption expenditure increased by $11m, a neglible increase in percentage terms.

(a) See paragraph 32 of the Explanatory Notes for the relationship between general government final consumption expenditure and GFS aggregates.(b) Reference year for chain volume measures is 2006-07.

DECEMBER QUARTER 2008 GFS RELEASE

This release presents quarterly government finance statistics (GFS) on an accrual accounting basis. All tables are presented in GFS operating statement format and are for the general government sector, with the exception of Table 2 which presents data for the public non-financial corporations sector.

Quarterly GFS are released for the current financial year only, other than in the September quarter, when the quarters of the previous financial year are presented. Users requiring data for earlier periods should consult Government Finance Statistics, Australia (cat.no. 5512.0). The latest issue (2006-07) was released on 15 April 2008. Final annual GFS results for 2007-08 are scheduled for release by the ABS on 14 April 2009.

RELEASE OF QUARTERLY GFS THIS ISSUE

Table

Sep 08

Dec 08

Table 1 All Levels of Government - General Government

*

*

Table 2 All Levels of Government - Public Non-Financial Corporations

*

*

Table 3 Commonwealth Government

*

*

Table 4 Total State & Local

*

*

Table 5 New South Wales

*

Table 6 Victoria

*

Table 7 Queensland

*

Table 8 South Australia

*

Table 9 Western Australia

*

Table 10 Tasmania

*

Table 11 Northern Territory

*

Table 12 Australian Capital Territory

*

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

The release of GFS quarterly data is usually coordinated to be the day before the respective issue of Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product(cat. no. 5206.0). The scheduled release dates for the March and June quarter 2009 issues are:

Issue

5519.0.55.001

5206.0

March 2009

2 June 2009

3 June 2009

June 2009

1 September 2009

2 September 2009

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070, email <client.services@abs.gov.au> or Mark Patton on Canberra (02) 6252 7926, email <public.finance@abs.gov.au>.